Sydney FC will not be calling on Alessandro Del Piero to coach the club

VIDEO: SYDNEY FC's new coach will not be Alessandro Del Piero with the club set to pursue another domestic candidate to replace Ian Crook.

Tom Smithies

DailyTelegraphNovember 12, 20122:45am

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October 1st 2015

3 years ago

SYDNEY FC's new coach will not be Alessandro Del Piero, despite the Italian's wealth of football experience, with the club initially minded to pursue another domestic candidate to replace Ian Crook.

The Sky Blues were left in shock yesterday by Crook's decision to stand down in the aftermath of Saturday's crushing 3-2 defeat to Melbourne Victory, a loss that came after Sydney were two goals ahead with 12 minutes left to play.

Club officials including chairman Scott Barlow, CEO Tony Pignata and football director Gary Cole will meet shortly to lay the terms for a search to find their seventh coach in eight years, seeking to make an appointment as quickly as possible.

While assistant Steve Corica will be in charge of the side for Friday night's trip to face Brisbane, Sydney will seek a more experienced figure for the long term, aware of the asphyxiating nature of the scrutiny and expectation that comes with the role, and which too quickly took its toll on Crook.

It's understood that Football Federation Australia would have considered giving Del Piero special dispensation to take the job despite his lack of qualifications, but that will not be an option Sydney pursue.

The club are adamant that he remains far too valuable as a player and on-field leader to be burdened with a managerial role too - especially given that he has no formal coaching experience.

The planning process that sought a replacement for Vitezslav Lavicka earlier this year, conducted by then CEO Dirk Melton, identified a local candidate as the preferred option given the particular challenges of the local game.

The shortlist identified then was Graham Arnold, Ange Postecoglou and Ricki Herbert, and it's believed that the first reaction within the club is that a domestic option remains the optimum path.

Other candidates could include former Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick, who worked with Cole for years and has just left a role with the Hong Kong FA, ex-Gold Coast duo Miron Bleiberg and Mike Mulvey, and former Socceroos and Brisbane Roar head Frank Farina.

Herbert remains a possibility, not least because of the relationship Pignata forged with him while Wellington Phoenix CEO, but it's hard to see how he could reconcile his continued work as New Zealand coach with an abrupt departure from the club where so many of them play.

Arnold remains highly thought of, but the way his decision to remain at the Mariners was communicated by Sydney FC annoyed him at the time.